Button attachment

ABSTRACT

A kit which eliminate the need for thread in affixing buttons to garments wherein the button is affixed by means of fairly stiff wire and a special receptacle for same, to prevent unwinding and injury to a user. The special receptacle includes a disc with two holes and a peripheral flange on its wall. The wire is passed through holes in the button, fabric, and the holes in the disc and then the wire end are twisted together inside of the receptacle and a cap placed therein.

United States Patent Inventor Ernestine A. Hoban 91 llolliston St,Medway, Mus. 02053 Appl. No. 769,607 Filed 0m. 22, 1968 Patented Aug. 3,1971 BUTTON ATTACHMENT 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 24/90, 24/93 1nt.Cl A44b1/18 Field of 24/90 W, 93, 103 UXReferences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 763,512 6/1904 Schmidt 24190 W UX818,983 4/1906 Smith 24/90 W UX 2,425,031 8/1947 Dewald 24/103 UXFOREIGN PATENTS 786,195 8/1935 France 24/90 W 151,816 10/1920 GreatBritain 24/90 W Primary Examiner-Bernard A. Gelak Attorney-Richard F.Benway ABSTRACT: A kit which eliminate the need for thread in affixingbuttons to garments wherein the button is afiixed by means of fairlystiff wire and a special receptacle for same, to prevent unwinding andinjury to a user. The special receptacle includes a disc with two holesand a peripheral flange on its wall. The wire is passed through holes inthe button, fabric, and the holes in the disc and then the wire end aretwisted together inside of the receptacle and a cap placed therein.

PATENTED AUG 3197i Fig. 4

INVENTOR.

ERNESTINE A HOBAN BY W ATTORNEY BUTTON ATTACHMENT This invention relatesto buttons, particularly in attaching same to garments. It is all toocommon to have a button break loose from a garment. A number of peoplehave a great deal of difficulty in replacing a button such that it willremain in place for any length of time. Orie of the problems is that thethread loosens up the fabric where attached, such that when additionalthread is put in the same location it cannot be tightened effectively.Moreover, the abrasion to which the thread is exposed when in place alsocauses a shortened life. lt is therefore an object of the presentinvention to replace thread with an abrasive-resistant stiff wire.

The use of stiff wire to attach a button to a garment, in place ofordinary thread, presents several difficulties. The chief being that ithas to be attached in such a way that it will not work its way loose.Furthermore, when stiff wire is used, some means must be provided toprotect the wearer from the sharp ends that may protrude. In the presentinvention, stiff wire is utilized to replace the thread, moreover meanshave been provided to prevent the wire from unraveling and at the sametime protect the wearer from sharp edges that may project out from theends of the wire.

Another difficulty in the use of wire lies in the spacing of the buttonfrom the garment. lf heavy garments must be buttoned together, somemeans must be provided to space the buttons from the fabric aconsiderable distance, and at the same time protect the thread fromabrasion. Presently, with the use of thread, it is accomplished bywinding thread between the button and the fabric after it has been sewnon with several loops. This fills the space between the button and thefabric and raises the button a small distance from the fabric. If asingle turn of wire, or at most a double turn of wire is used to attacha button, as contemplated by the present invention, the button will, ofcourse, be too close to the fabric so it may be necessary to providesome means of raising the button from the fabric. Accordingly, thepresent invention provides means for raising the button away from thefabric and at the same time protect the wire from abrasion.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be betterunderstood when read in connection with the attached drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a button and the component parts of the present invention.

FlG. 2 is an illustration of the present invention as used in attachinga button to fabric.

FlG. 3 is an illustration of the same invention but with a raisedsection between the button and the fabric.

FlG. 4 is an illustration of the raised portion in somewhat greaterdetail.

Referring to FIG. 1, we'see button 11. The multiplicity of styles,types, and shapes of buttons demands that any invention or device thatwill be used to attach buttons to fabrics must accommodate all of thebuttons that are presently available in all their various styles. Thisis absolutely essential, and accordingly, button 11 is any style, shape,or size button that may be available. Button 11 is provided by the useras opposed to the supplier of the present invention. Wire 13 ispreferably stainless steel wire that has not been annealed..The use ofstainless steel wire prevents the clothing, even if washable, fromdeveloping stains communicated to the fabric by corroding wire. Copperwire may be satisfactory; however, it being of such a nature that itcould corrode, it would spread to the fabric. However, if copper wire isutilized, it must be varnished very heavily in order to prevent thecopper from corroding and actually staining the fabric. We also see asecond button shaped portion 12. This is a hollowed-outdisc with holes16 in its base to accommodate the wire passing therethrough. Inaddition, there are gripping sections 30 about the inner perimeter ofthis device. We also see cap 14, which has an extended inner surface 31and an outer perimeter 32.

To best understand the use of the present invention, description of itsassemblage is in order. Button 11 is placed up against fabric 22 of FIG.2 and wire 13 is passed through hole 15 of the button. It is firstpassed through one hole and then through the fabric with the button heldin place, the wires bent and fished through the second hold and againthrough the fabric such that two wire ends emerge from the insidefabric, as the button is held snugly up against it on the outsidesurface of the fabric. Cap 12 then is placed on the inside of the fabricsuch that the wire ends are fed through holes 16. While these are heldin place, wire 13 is twisted together and shown as 17. The wires arethen bent over and stuffed within the hollowedout portion of disc 12.Cap 14 with its inner surface is then pressed into disc 12, such thatgripping perimeters 30 totally press against the inner circumference 31.One continues to press in until outer perimeter 32 is in close proximityto the perimeter of disc 12. By so doing, the twisted wire is forced tobe held down in such a manner that it would be impossible to unravel,for its raveled section 17 is bent over to its normal direction ofrotation for raveling and unraveling. When wire is in such a position,90? to the rotational angle at which it was wound together, no amount offorce or pull on the button can develop a force vector which will bedirected in such a direction as to cause the wire to unwind. Here thenis an unwindable wire connection in the attachment of buttons to fabric.Moreover, cap 14 presents a smooth surface in the internal portion ofthe button arrangement. Therefore, a wearer will be perfectlycomfortable wearing a garment that has such buttons attached thereto.The smooth cap protects the wearer from the wound up wire, which iswithin the underneath side of the cap, providing maximum comfort.

Illustration of HG. 2 is directed to a button which has a single set ofopenings for attaching a button to a fabric. In many cases, thesebuttons have four openings. In such cases, one wire could be fedthrough, twisted, and tucked into disc 12, then another wire can be fedthrough, also twisted together, and tucked into the disc 12. If a largerwire is used, of course, it could be fed through like a thread held andthen fed through a second time through the additional holes and twistedtogether to attach the button to the fabric. However, there will besubstantial room within disc 12, such that two wires can be twistedtogether in the same disc and pressed down. When one wire is twistedtogether and pressed in, the second wire can be offset lightly toprevent their own raveling and producing the minimum of bulk within thedisc.

As we alluded to earlier, with the use of wire, out ability to space thebutton from the fabric when thick fabrics are to be buttoned together,for instance in an overcoat, and equivalent to that which normal userequires a thread to be wound many times between the button and thefabric, is accomplished by spacer 20, as shown in FIG. 3. Spacer 20 isshown in greater detail in FlG. 4. Here the button is fed through thefabric with the spacer placed between the button and the fabric, and asbefore the button is held pressed up against spacer 20, which is pressedup against the fabric, while disc 12 is attached on the underneath side.it is preferred to have spacer 20 a small round donut-shaped plasticelement. The reason is that no sharp surfaces will therefore bepresented. Furthermore, the distribution of pressure of the buttonagainst the fabric is maintained uniform. Furthermore, when the fabricis buttoned together, as in an overcoat, the small donut-shaped unitwill be free to move, and further, will present no sharp edges to thebuttoned portion of the outer garment. The button, spacer 20, servesseveral functions, in addition to spacing the button from the fabric. Itis smooth and free to rotate, it maintains uniform spacing of the buttonand further spreads the force of the button to areas further away fromthe perhaps weakened portion of the fabric where the button has beenattached thereto. However, the donut-shaped spacer is not wider thandisc 12, accordingly, a smooth continuous uniform pressure is thereforemaintained. The donut, of course, is free to rotate and will thereforedistribute the wear from movement of the button and fabric as they areattached together, thus extending the life of the overall arrangement toa maximum.

In order to accommodate various color requirements of cer tain garments,it may be found necessary to have the wire come in various colors. Toaccomplish this, a colored lacquer can be used or a sheath of coloredplastic. With the latter, an adhesive must be introduced between thesheath and the wire to manufacture so that the sheath doesn't peal backwhen fed through the fabric.

Many substitutions and variations in the present invention can be madeby those skilled in the art, without departing from its true scope andspirit. Accordingly, l only wish to be limited by the appended claims,of which:

I claim:

1. A button attachment comprising,

a button,

a fabric,

a wire capable of being manually bent, for attaching said wire isstainless steel.

3. A button attachment according to claim 1, wherein said wire iscolored lacquer coiled wire.

1. A button attachment comprising, a button, a fabric, a wire capable ofbeing manually bent, for attaching said button to said fabric, a dischaving an upstanding wall along its perimeter including an inturnedflange and said disk having at least two holes, said wire having twoportions extending through said button, fabric, and said holes and theirends being twisted together within said perimeter, a cap positionedtightly between said wall and flange thereby covering and pressing saidwire and its twisted portions against said disc whereby the wire doesnot unravel.
 2. A button attachment according to claim 1, wherein saidwire is stainless steel.
 3. A button attachment according to claim 1,wherein said wire is colored lacquer coiled wire.